Magnetic-based indicator tools are used to determine a setting of an implantable medical device. The implantable medical device may include a fluid flow control valve that controls the pressure of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in a patient's brain. Excessive accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), due to hydrocephalus or other causes, manifests itself as increased pressure within the brain. Relieving the CSF pressure is therapeutically beneficial and is usually done by using a fluid flow control valve to drain CSF from ventricles in the brain.
The implantable medical device may include a target in the form of a magnet. The magnet allows a tool set to determine the setting of the medical device and change the setting without removing the subcutaneously implanted device. The tool set typically includes a locator tool to determine the orientation of the medical device, the magnetic-based indicator tool to determine the setting of the implantable medical device by using a compass, and an adjustment tool to change the setting of the medical device by using another magnet. The tool set works by using magnetic coupling between the magnet on the implantable medical device and each of the indicator tool compass and the adjustment tool magnet.
The compass-based indicator tool relies on an interaction between the magnet on the medical device and the compass that is strong enough to determine the position of the magnet even through a patient's scalp. The magnet-compass interaction must also be resistant to external magnetic fields, especially from the Earth. The compass will drift toward aligning with the Earth's magnetic field if the pull of the magnet in the implanted medical device is not strong enough. The deflection angle increases as the distance between the magnet and the compass increases, and may lead to inaccurate device setting indications.
Alternatively, magnetic based location tools have been developed to determine the three-dimensional location and orientation of magnetic devices within implanted medical devices, such as medical tubes and catheters. These alternate location systems typically do not relate to the rotatable orientation of magnetic devices that are part of implantable valve devices.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2002/0022793 to Bertrand et al. discloses a compass-based indicator for assessing the position of a fluid flow valve within an implanted device. The fluid flow valve described by Bertrand et al. may be used for controlling the flow of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in a patient with hydrocephalus. This compass-based indicator is used in combination with an implantable flow control device disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,083 to Bertrand et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,297 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,668 to Haynor et al. discloses an electronic device to determine the location and orientation of a magnet coupled to an indwelling medical device using a plurality of magnetic sensors. Table 1 below lists documents that disclose devices for determining the location and orientation of magnetic devices within implantable medical devices.
TABLE 1Patent NumberInventorsTitleU.S. Pat. No. 5,637,083Bertrand et al.Implantable Adjustable FluidFlow Control Valve2002/0022793BertrandTool for Adjusting anImplantable AdjustableFluid Flow Control ValveU.S. Pat. No. 5,879,297Haynor et al.System and Method toDetermine the Location andOrientation of an IndwellingMedical DeviceU.S. Pat. No. 6,129,668Haynor et al.System and Method toDetermine the Location andOrientation of an IndwellingMedical Device
All documents listed in Table 1 above are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their respective entireties. As those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate readily upon reading the Summary of the Invention, Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and claims set forth below, many of the devices and methods disclosed in the patents of Table 1 may be modified advantageously by using the structures and techniques of the present invention.